It Takes Two
by 735WishesandMiracles
Summary: NOT A SONGFIC It's the Marauders' fifth year at Hogwarts, the week after Snape's worse memory. Snape is ready to win her back. Lily is ready for summer. James has a plan, and Remus is ready for all hell to break loose.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

_I do not own any of Harry Potter or its characters. All of that belongs to the incredible JK Rowling, who will always have more imagination than I ever will. _

_I'm not sure where I'm taking this story quite yet, so…let me know what you think! All feedback is wonderful!_

"Did you see his face?" Sirius Black laughed gleefully as he and friends trooped up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.

The ever-blundering Peter Pettigrew laughed, a false sound, as he glanced nervously about at the other three boys. Though it seemed like he belonged in the infamous Marauders, what really was the case was that the three other boys had taken pity on him in their first year.

When Peter had been picked on by all of his other classmates for failing to complete the assignments in class and falling behind, Remus Lupin, the kindest and most hard-working of the Marauders by far, had taken Peter under his wing and tutored him back into the teachers' good graces.

At that point, James Potter and Sirius Black had become best friends, widely known for their troublemaking streak and charming good looks. Unseen by most of the school, though, was their kindness. The duo terribly enjoyed teasing others, but deep down, they were true, honest boys who just enjoyed having a little fun.

James and Sirius noticed Remus, a previous loner, and Peter beginning to tag along together and decided to give them a "test." They approached Remus and Peter in the common room one evening and began to lightly prod Peter, while teasing the both of them. Peter's face grew red and he looked down at his homework bashfully.

Remus on the other hand, grew red for a different reason. He bristled and told off both James and Sirius for being insensitive prats who thought only for their own benefit and never bothered to consider others' feelings while making mischief around the castle.

Unknown to both victims, this was what James and Sirius had been hoping for – a streak of loyalty, goodness, and protectiveness in another potential friend (Remus) and another person they could have look up to them (Peter). James and Sirius were rather arrogant and enjoyed the thought of having a "younger brother" figure to look up to them for neither of them actually had brothers. (Sirius did, but due to his family background, his Gryffindor roots made him the white sheep in a black flock.)

Unfortunately, their teasing attempt backfired. What they didn't anticipate was having to work for Remus and Peter's friendship back over almost a month of the strange, but expected, ways friendship grew.

By the time first year was over, the four were inseparable. In their second year, they (James and Sirius's actions backed by Remus' careful planning with Peter's undying support) had wreaked so much havoc in the castle that just about everyone knew their names.

One night when James was sneaking about under his Invisibility Cloak, he overheard Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout on their patrols.

"I swear, I have never seen a group of students so smart but so…mischievous!" McGonagall sighed, exasperated. "They go…_marauding _around the castle, gathering up detentions like House Points, and yet their grades stay, well…good!"

Since then, James had used the term Marauders for their merry band of four and insisted that everyone else around the school use it as well. By the time third year began, the name stuck and they were hence forth called so.

As for Professor McGonagall, she couldn't help but smile despite the name. It was, in fact, one of the few times James Potter had listened to her to date.

Now in their fifth year, the four – minus Remus – had successfully taught themselves to be Animagi – wizards who could transform into animals at will. Since their second year upon discovering Remus' lycanthropy, they had made it their now-not-so-secret goal to become Animagi to join Remus during the full moon.

James turned into a stag and was appropriately nicknamed "Prongs." Sirius turned into a great, black dog and dubbed himself "Padfoot." Peter turned into a large, brown rat and was called "Wormtail."

It was now the week following their OWLs and the Marauders had most definitely been up to no good in their free time. They had just successfully a Slytherin student's hair bright pink without any prior preparation.

"Did you see his face?" Sirius Black laughed gleefully as he and friends trooped up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower.

The ever-blundering Peter Pettigrew laughed, a false sound, as he glanced nervously about at the other three boys. Though it seemed like he belonged in the infamous Marauders, what really was the case was that the three other boys had taken pity on him in their first year.

Remus rolled his eyes and continued ascending the steps without further comment. James laughed with his best mate and ruffled his hair carelessly.

Just as they reached the top step, a dark figure pushed past them, head down.

"_Oi, Snivellus!_" Sirius crooned, recognizing the form immediately. "Got lost still? You're only going to be a 6th year in a couple months!"

James and Peter laughed loudly as Remus muttered under his breath.

They stepped through the portrait hole after reciting the password – Leo – and swept into their usual seats by the fire.

Sirius and Peter were still animatedly retelling their successful pranking day as Remus cracked open the nearest book at random, hoping to avoid his friends' blather. James, though, suddenly stopped laughing.

Across the common room sat a beautiful red-headed girl with bright green eyes. A decently sized book sat open before her, but her eyes weren't moving. They stared fixedly at the center of the page, and one hand played with the hem of her skirt as the opposite leg shook.

James' face creased into a frown. It was most unlike Lily Evans to play with her skirt and jiggle her leg. She would know; he had been – he preferred the word _devotedly_ – paying attention to her since the Sorting Ceremony in their first year and had asked her out a grand total of 723 times to date. No matter how many times he was turned down, he remained faithful to his goal of going out on a date with Lily Evans.

"Hey, Evans!" James called out.

No response.

The frown deepened. If anything, spitfire Lily Evans would definitely have shot back a smart remark about it being the 724th time she would turn him down or even just a snippy no.

Instead, three second later, Lily shut her book and made her way up to the girls' dormitories.

"You coming, Prongs?"

James looked up, startled. Sirius was standing before him, Peter in his shadow. "Where?"

"The dormitories, unless you've got a hot date we don't know about," Sirius smirked.

"No, uh, no."

"To?"

"Both questions. No, I'm staying here, and no –"

"You haven't got a hot date," Sirius finished. "I figured. The only girl you'd go on a date with is Evans, and speaking of Evans, what was up with the cold shoulder?"

James shrugged listlessly. "I'll see you guys later."

"Take care of Moony, will you?" Sirius called over his shoulder as he departed for the stairs.

A careless nod was sent Sirius' way before he hopped the back of the couch and plopped next to Remus.

"Hey Moony…?"

"Yes, James?" Remus didn't look up from his book.

"…I have a question."

"Mmhmm…"

"…what's happened to Lily that's made her so upset lately?" James finally mustered up the courage to ask his question, albeit almost inaudibly.

This wasn't something Remus was expecting; he looked up, an eyebrow cocked in surprise. "You no – well, of course you would. I'd be surprised if you didn't. What do you mean by 'upset?'"

"She's just… It's not just the fact that she ignores me. It's that at meal times, she eats half of what she usually does. She buries her nose in a book, but doesn't flip a single page. She looks out the window half the time she's in the common room. She –" James rambled on until Remus silenced him with a hand.

"That's…kind of creepy, not going to lie. But, it's _you_, so I don't expect any differently. Well…Lily…" Remus sighed. "Remember last week right after the Defense OWL?"

James nodded like the attentive schoolboy he never was.

"You and Padfoot decided to hex Snape because you were bored?"

The nodding continued.

"Remember what happened when Lily showed up?"

"He called her the…word."

"Yeah. You do know that Lily and Snape had been really close friends since…before Hogwarts, yes?"

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"Well… Lily was really hurt that Snape called her _that_ and decided to stop talking to him. Snape didn't think it would hurt that badly, so he tried to win back her friendship, which is why he was here before we came, I'm assuming," Remus explained softly.

"How –? Never mind. You're _Moony_. Of course you'd know," James imitated.

Remus chuckled. "So…? What's the plan?"

"What plan?" James asked, pretending to be completely innocent.

"I know that look, James Potter. You've got something up your sleeve and I'm not sure I'll really like it," Remus continued, nose back into his book.

"No…well, yes, but no."

"Eloquent, Prongs, eloquent. Now I understand why half the girls in school love you."

"Have I got you swooning at my feet yet, dear Remus?" James asked sarcastically.

"Nope. And I even see you half-naked almost every day… I don't know what those girls see in you, mate, to be honest."

At this point, James let out a real laugh. "I love you, mate."

"Yeah, yeah, I love you too."

The two fell silent: James stared into the dying fire and Remus flipped another page in his book.

"So…the plan?"

James sighed. "I was saying, no, you wouldn't not like it, and yes, I do have a plan." 

"I would like said plan of yours?" Remus asked, hazel eyes wide in surprise. He shook his head, as if attempting to clear it of the nonsense James had just fed him, causing his brown hair to flop in front of his left eye. "Really."

"I'm positive. Just…give me some time to smooth it out and _no _mention of it at all to Padfoot and Wormtail."

Remus gave his friend a calculating look. James shrunk under the scrutinizing gaze. Remus' eyes were…unique, due to his lycanthropy. They weren't completely hazel; the irises had flecks of amber and gold in it, causing his gaze to oftentimes adopt the piercing look of real wolf. As much as James had been around Remus, the latter very seldom gave anyone this sort of look, which made it even worse.

"Okay." Remus finally released James from his unblinking stare. "You have my word."

"Thanks –"

"But if I see you making her even more upset, I _will_ stop you, understood?"

"Yeah, of course! Moony, come on! It's _Lily Evans_." James hissed the last two words. "Why in the name of Merlin's pants would I want to upset her?"

"By asking her out for the I-don't-even-want-to-count-how-many-times-you've-asked-her-out time," Remus deadpanned.

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on!"

"You know it's true."

"I hate you, Moony."

"I hate you too, Prongs."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

_Again, no ownership of Harry Potter or the names you recognize. I hope you enjoy, and please leave me feedback! _

It had been three days since James and Remus had had their conversation in the common room, and the latter had noticed no aforementioned "plan" come up in James' recent behavior. True, the usually lovesick guy was now giving Lily her space: a simple hello when they ran into each other throughout the day and no professions of undying love.

Sirius couldn't wrap his mind around the new James. His dark silver eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he flapped his arms around frantically as soon as Lily had rounded the corner with her friends. James had just sidestepped swiftly to allow Lily and her friends up the stairs and simply waved a silent hello while continuing to listen to his friend's chatter.

"What has gotten into you, Prongs? Where's the love? Where's the marriage proposals? Where's the hair tussling? Where's the 'Hey Evans, want to go on a date with me?'" Sirius imitated the deeper tones James had adopted a few years back solely for the purpose of talking to Lily.

A hand reached up to ruffle the ever-messy black hair at Sirius' rapid fire questions. "I'm just…giving her space. She seems upset. I don't want to be the reason she becomes even more upset."

"Well, at least I have the hair tussling back," Sirius teased, mussing up his friend's hair even more. "You okay, Prongsie, boy?"

"What makes you ask that?" James smirked.

"I mean, usually you just _throw _your love at Lily without really caring what she does in return, but now… You seem different, is all. Just wondering."

James' brown eyes narrowed into a glare. "I 'throw my love?' I _'throw my love?' _What, is my love a piece of spare parchment to toss in the trash? Something discardable?"

Sirius pretended to think for a while. "Yeah, just about, mate."

"You and Moony… Both nutters in the same boat… Don't even know why I'm friends with you two. I'll show you. James Potter's love is nothing to be trifled with!" With the last statement, he sarcastically puffed up his chest, threw his shoulders back, and placed his arms akimbo.

A group of third year Gryffindor girls passing by giggled at the sight of James making fun and Sirius being his usual attractive self. The latter gave them a momentary side smirk, causing the girls to dissolve into giggles and swoons.

"Glad to see you're back to normal, egotistical self, Prongs."

"Yeah, yeah, sure…"

James grinned and returned Sirius' shove good-naturedly in an attempt to cover up his true anxiety.

Sirius had noticed a change in his personality. He hadn't meant for anyone to realize he was changing, per say. He just wanted him and Lily to happen as if it was always meant to be. No drama, no fuss, nothing extraordinarily special. That's how Lily would've wanted it, he was sure; ever since first year, she was a no makeup, no hair primping kind of girl. Regardless, she was still the most beautiful girl in school to him.

But then again…it _was _Sirius, the guy who was with him 24/7 – sometimes even in the bathroom – and knew him better than anyone else. Sirius would notice if he changed his cologne, but wouldn't bother with asking why because the reason was so glaringly obvious.

All the same, James was disconcerted and resolved to talk to Remus that night again.

"Where's Moony?" Peter wondered.

Three fourths of the Marauders were sitting on their respective beds in their dormitory, talking about the last few weeks of school without homework, summer plans, and everything else humanly possible.

Sirius yawned. "It's Moony. He wouldn't get lost in Hogwarts. He's prefect, for goodness sake. He's probably just doubling his patrol, as usual."

"Yeah, yeah, that's true!" Peter agreed immediately. "Hey, can we go fly tomorrow?"

James tuned them out, choosing instead to fish out the Marauders' Map and search for Remus. _"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."_

"Sure thing, Wormy…" Sirius mumbled in the background. "Prongs?"

"Sure, of course," James responded automatically. He flipped over another page on the Map and was rewarded. The tiny dot labeled Remus Lupin was walking down a sixth floor corridor, alone.

When he looked up, both Sirius' light and Peter's light had been put out. The former was already snoring softly and the latter was turning over in his bed. Reassured that he wouldn't be followed, James slipped out of bed and pulled on a jacket over his white pajama shirt.

"Where you goin'?" Peter whispered.

"Hun – thirsty," James lied quickly. "Getting some water."

His friend muttered an incomprehensible reply and rolled back onto his side. James let out a sigh of relief. He had corrected himself mid-syllable, realizing almost too late that if he mentioned food, Peter would most definitely have gotten up and begged to follow him.

With the Map clutched in one hand and his wand in the other, James made his way down the darkened halls of Hogwarts. Remus was still on the sixth floor, so it didn't take him long to find his friend.

"Enjoying patrol too much, Moony?" James announced his presence once he was behind Remus.

The other boy jumped and whipped about, wand alight in front of him. "Merlin, James, what was that for?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About Lily, of course. What's the question?"

James grinned. Trust Remus to know exactly what was on his mind. "So…has Lily noticed a change in my…demeanor?"

"'Demeanor?' Why didn't you just use 'personality' or something? Makes you sound like you're trying to be old-fashioned," Remus teased. He let up once James made his puppy dog eyes. "Oh, stop it. Sirius is better at that, by the way. Might want to take some lessons."

"Would you stop being a smartass for just five minutes?" Despite the exasperated nature of his sentence, James was far from it.

Remus' quick-witted sense of humor was something not generally seen by the rest of the school. He was constantly afraid that something he said would reveal his furry little problem, so as a result, he said very little about himself. To everyone else, he was Remus Lupin, hardworking, smart, quiet, humble, kind, helpful Remus.

To the Marauders, he was Moony, diligent, witty, intelligent, modest, considerate, _brilliant_ Moony. Whenever Remus showed his humorous side, none of the remaining Marauders minded one bit; they reveled in the fact that they were the only ones who had the privilege of experiencing it firsthand.

"I'm counting." Remus glanced down at his watch.

"I need to talk too, buddy."

"Fine. I'll give you…two minutes of speaking time in my five minutes of not –"

"Giving me sass, right," James filled in.

Remus rolled his eyes but gestured for his friend to continue.

"Sirius noticed today that I was acting differently. Is it that obvious?"

"Well…granted, Sirius and I both know you better than anyone else at this school. If you did something differently, we would _know_ immediately. It's a given, James."

James opened his mouth to speak, but snapped it shut once more. He sighed and glanced down at his scuffed trainers.

"You remember the conversation we had a few days ago?" Remus asked in the silence.

"Of course. Why?"

"You remember me making fun of the fact that supposedly half the girls in school love you but I wasn't?"

"How could I forget?"

"Yeah, well, this whole James Potter acting shy makes me swoon much more than James Potter constantly messing up his hair."

The brown eyes looked over sharply. "Really?"

"I might 'give you sass,' but I'm not a liar, James."

"You like me!" James beamed.

"Yes, James, I love you. Let's get married this summer, no wait, there's a girl you're pining after."

James subdued once more, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "You think I should act more…quiet with Lily?"

Remus nodded. "I talk to her during prefect duty, and to answer your unasked question, yes, she has noticed your change in personality. According to her, it's a relief to not have to be on guard for your 'attacks' every day, but at the same time, she's a little worried about you because you seem so quiet in the halls now. As much as she insists she hates your egotistical _demeanor_, she says it's strange to see you without your usual pomp and circumstance."

"Moony, those words just made my day. You, my friend, are undoubtedly the coolest werewolf on this planet."

"Not so loud!" Remus hissed, glancing into the surrounding darkness furtively.

James waved the Map in his friend's face. "No one's around, mate, calm down. You know I wouldn't throw your trust around like a spare bit of parchment. I'm not Padfoot." He couldn't help but grin.

"Why do you have that look on your face?"

"Just a conversation Padfoot and I had earlier today."

Remus nodded in understanding. "So how's the plan coming along?"

The only response James could think to give was another vague shrug. "I don't know. I was thinking of a plan, but then figured if I planned something like this, it would make it seem fake, somehow. I want everything between Lily and me to be natural. It only feels right that way. I go about doing everything as it should have been done in the first place."

His friend stopped to give James a look. "When have you suddenly become so…"

"Smart?"

"No, not that. You've always been smart, intelligent, really, just incredibly lazy. I mean…you've suddenly become so knowledgeable, _wise_. Did something happen between now and our last conversation?"

"I guess it's suddenly just hit me that we only have two years left at this school. As well as I know Lily, I can't be sure she'll continue the same classes as me next year, and if nothing goes well in the coming two years, then I have very little chance to see her ever again after Hogwarts, and _then_ how am I supposed to marry her and have a bunch of kids with bright green eyes?"

Remus couldn't help but laugh even as he sensed the completely serious undertone of his friend's soliloquy. "James?"

"Am I allowed to be sassy again?"

"Sure."

"I'm not your dad, but, really… I'm proud of you. Truly, I am. I guess I'm not being sassy, just cheesy. But I am proud of you, James."

James's tanned complexion darkened visibly, even in the shadows. "Come off it, Moony. You haven't even _seen_ me do anything yet." An all-too familiar smirk grew on his face.

"Oh, no, I don't want to see."

**A/N: **

_Sorry for the short chapter! It's kind of a filler; I don't really have the rest of this story planned out so I'm taking things as they come._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Author's Note: **

_Again, no ownership. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. Hopefully this chapter will be more interesting!_

The next morning dawned with a vengeance. At least for a certain James Potter it did.

Sirius had gotten tired of waiting for his best friend to get up, so he decided to surprise James with slobbery dog kisses. James woke with a start and immediately shoved his best friend off of him, face contorted into a grimace.

"That was absolutely disgusting," he forced out through tightly pressed lips. "I have no idea why anyone would want to snog with you."

This, of course, left Sirius and Peter in loud guffaws of laughter and Remus in slight amusement as he shook his head fondly at his friends. James stormed off to the bathroom to clean off and didn't bother waiting for his friends to compose themselves before hurrying down the dormitory stairs. He had no idea why he was so upset with Sirius.

It wasn't unlike his best friend to act so stupidly silly all the time, so why did it just start to bother him now? James rolled his eyes and muttered to himself. Everything was just getting weirder and weirder.

A small figure suddenly materialized in front of him at the foot of the stairs. James gave a yell, but couldn't stop himself in time from barreling into the unfortunate soul who had crossed the stairwell the same time as him.

The other person yelped and with his honed reflexes, James just barely managed to seize the banister to steady himself as well as grab the other's arm to keep them from falling onto the floor. A wave of red hair slapped sense across his face as he did so. His brown eyes widened.

Lily Evans' green eyes widened as she realized who was holding her arm. Almost immediately, her eyes narrowed into catlike slits and she opened her soft, red lips to snap at the offender.

Before a word could escape, though, James righted her on her feet and bent to retrieve all her flyaway belongings. "Merlin! Lily, I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going – _Reparo – _Sirius, you know? He woke me up – _Reparo – _it was gross. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you!" As he rambled, he methodically picked up, fixed, and placed back into her arms the items that had gone flying when he ran into her. Once the last quill had its nib affixed back to its rightful place, James stood and gave her a sheepish smile, a light blush tingeing across his face. "Sorry about that, Lily. I really didn't mean to run into you."

Lily could only stand there with her jaw dropped. James Potter was _profusely_ apologizing for running into her and scrambling about, returning her things to her without being asked to. The boy who originally would have smirked and made a joke about how they were "destined" to run into each other was doing the exact opposite of what she would have expected. A long moment later, she finally found her tongue. "Oh, no! No, no, no! It's fine. No worries. I supposed I shouldn't have walked to close to the end of the stairs, anyway… Um."

The two stood there, looking rather awkwardly at the other, occasionally meeting the other's gaze shyly. James was mentally kicking himself. _Say something! Just stop looking like a fool! Merlin, Potter!_ What he never realized was that she was in the same situation herself.

_Stop being such a dewy-eyed schoolgirl, Lily Evans! Just say something! He'll probably laugh at anything you say, it's Potter! …no, but he's changed, remember? Oh, what do I say?_

"Problem, you two?"

James and Lily both jumped and looked back on the stairs. Sirius was leaning casually against the wall, his characteristic smirk hanging from his lips. "People are trying to get downstairs. Breakfast is waiting."

"Sorry," Lily murmured. A new wave of red flooded her cheeks. "I'll see you later, J-Potter! Potter." Before James could say another word, she swept out of the portrait hole.

Sirius snickered as his best friend's speechless state. James was staring at the now-closed portrait with a sense of longing. "Almost thought you had her there, mate. Why didn't you ask her out?"

Remus and Peter joined them. "Oh, let him be, Padfoot," Remus chided. "You okay, James?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine! Let's get breakfast. Yeah, I'm hungry."

On the way down to the Great Hall, Sirius and Peter filled the silence with chatter about Quidditch and new racing brooms. Remus joined in at times, though he mostly looked at his bespectacled friend, who still looked rather stupefied.

"You okay, James?" Remus asked during a loud bout of laughter from their other two companions.

"She almost called me James," the other boy sighed. "She almost said it. The first time in five years. And we're going on summer break in another week… What if all my hard work is forgotten over the summer? What will I do then, Moony?"

In James' eyes, Remus suddenly saw a glimpse of the vulnerability James had hidden under his boisterous personality for the past five years. He saw the scared boy who only wanted loyal friends and wished the best for everyone, bar those who dipped into Dark Magic.

"It'll be fine, James. I promise."

"What if she forgets?" James begged.

Remus almost laughed. "James. Listen to yourself. It's Lily Evans. Do you really think she'd forget anything she's learned from school in these past five years over one summer, let alone something that happened in the last three weeks of school?"

James managed a smile. "You always know what to say, Moony."

"I try," Remus shrugged. "You're one of my best friends, James. I just know you really well."

"Yeah… But you know? I like to think I know you well, too, but riddle me this: how is it that you, caring and sensitive, Remus Lupin, don't have a girlfriend?"

"For the millionth time, James, you _know the answer already_."

James rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I think you worry too much. I mean, I'm sure there are other people in this school who aren't as deluded as us to want to be friends with you."

"Who wants to be friends with Remus?" Sirius butted in.

"Who wouldn't want to be friends with Remus?" Peter chimed in, a hopeful grin on his round face.

Remus looked down at his feet, feeling a blush creep up his face and wetness prick at the back of his eyes. It was moments like this that he never felt more blessed in the world. Here he was attending one of the finest Wizardry Schools in the world, let in exclusively by the great Headmaster Dumbledore himself, with some of the best friends a guy could ask for.

"Gee, Peter, aside from the Slytherins who don't really even count as people, I don't think any would not want to be friends with our dear Moony," Sirius stated with a mocking all-knowing air. "I mean, look at him!"

"Okay, okay, are we done with the Remus glorification yet?" Remus interrupted as they made their way down the aisle toward Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Never," the three others chorused.

"Never what?" Alice Longbottom, a petite brunette with a pixie bob cut jumped in. On her other side sat Lily Evans, who was effectively using her mane of red hair as a curtain between herself and a certain James Potter who had just sat down across the table a few seats down from her.

James, too, had noticed her immediately. He had gone through a very hasty mental argument with himself upon deciding which seat he should sit in. Finally after getting a weird look from Peter for switching between two seats several times, he plopped himself down diagonally across the table from Lily and returned all of his attention to his friends.

"We're never going to stop the Remus Lupin glorification!" Peter piped up.

"Never! His name shall go down in history as Remus John Moony Lupin," Sirius announced, his hands waving a banner in front of him, "the kindest, most intelligent, smartest, most hard-working, wittiest, most lovable Marauder in history."

"To Remus!" James raised his goblet of pumpkin juice in a toast.

Even Alice raised her glass to join the toast, her bubbly laughter floating over the boys' raucous cheers. Lily had tucked her hair behind her ear at this point, a small smile revealing itself on the corners of her lips.

Remus, on the other hand, looked as if he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. His spluttered attempts to cease his friends' loving attention went unheard, though not by everyone.

"May I ask what is the meaning of all this commotion this early in the morning?"

Peter's hazel eyes widened at the sight of Professor McGonagall towering behind Remus and Sirius. Alice bit her lip to cease laughing, Remus' eyes widened and he froze in his seat, and James' jaw dropped stupidly. Only Sirius was the only one brave – and stupid – enough to explain recklessly.

"We're toasting to Remus' irreplaceable friendship! I'm not completely sure how we got to this topic, though, Ma'am. You might want to ask James, if he can shut his mouth."

"Well, um, Remus and I were…" James began, not all too sure actually where he could begin. It had been, after all, the topic of Lily and himself possibly not getting married – _no! They would get married! Oh, blimey, now's not this time, Potter, think!_ – the topic of Lily and himself perhaps not getting along sometime in the future that spurred on Remus' pep talk. "We were talking. Talking, um, about –"

"How he had always been a wonderful friend to everyone who approached him, but for some odd reason, never kept any other friends who meant as much to him as these three fools."

Everyone's heads turned to the new speaker in surprise.

Lily Evans sat proudly in her spot, head held high, a light of a smile dancing in her eyes. "Sorry if we were too loud, Professor. I didn't think it was that big of a deal since it's the last week of school. We didn't mean to cause any disturbance."

Professor McGonagall looked taken aback. "Well, I…" Never in her time had she seen Lily Evans voluntarily stick up for James Potter, well, not just then. She had never seen Lily Evans stick up for James Potter _ever_ before now. "Very well, Miss Evans. As kind and true as your intentions and words may have been, please do lower your voices." She swept away once more, not a hair out of place.

"Thanks, Lily." James grinned at her. "That was…really nice of you. You didn't have to step in, you know."

Lily felt her face heating up and mentally berated herself. "Well," she coughed, "it was nothing. You were being rather nice in your comments and…Remus does deserve it."

If it was even possible, James' smile widened as he let out a laugh. His brown eyes bore into hers, and suddenly, she felt her lips curl into a smile. His laugh rang in her head, a sweet, boyish sound that made her heart melt.

Sirius suddenly spoke up, breaking James and Lily's gaze. The warm feeling in her heart suddenly left, though she felt relieved at being released from James' deep, penetrating stare.

She shook her head. What was going on with her? Hadn't she just been calling him names two weeks ago for pranking her best – no – her ex-best friend, Severus? Was she suddenly going soft on him just because he seemed more respectful and considerate to her emotions for the past week? Or, Gods no – had his bump into her this morning knocked all the sense out of her? James Potter was an arrogant, bullying toerag, for goodness sake!

Lily suddenly let out a groan. Had all her intelligence left her, too, when she suddenly got all fangirly over James? How could a bump in the common room knock _sense _out of someone?

"You all right, there, Lily?" James gave her a caring, quizzical look.

"Fine!" Her voice squeaked. "Fine," she repeated after clearing her throat. "I'm fine."

James chuckled. "It's just…okay. Just making sure. You seemed to be having an argument with yourself, that's all. If you wanted to talk to someone…"

Could he read her mind? Lily felt oddly flustered. "Oh, no, I'm fine. I just realized that I'm going home in a few days and that means I have to see my sister again."

"Pe – what's your sister's name again?" James asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow at his obvious cover-up question. "Petunia."

"Right, right! I knew it was a flower," James quipped. "How old is she?"

"She's two years older than me, so she's 17. She's turning 18 in July."

"Eh, well I suppose you're lucky to have a sister."

"Lucky? She torments me any time I'm home!"

"At least you have a sister. I don't have any siblings. It's just me sitting around at home most of the time. My parents are always out working." The bright green eyes across the table looked pityingly at James. "No need for pity. Sirius and I will stay amused this summer."

"Sirius?"

"Yeah, he and his parents never got along ever since he got sorted into Gryffindor, so this Christmas, he went home to announce that he was leaving. He's staying at my place from now on." James grinned at the prospect of having his best friend with him every day.

"Remind me not to visit you two," Lily teased.

"You won't miss us?" James pretended to pout, which, much to his surprise, made Lily blush.

"I will…" she admitted slowly. "I will."

"But I thought you hated our pranks and bad behavior," James stammered. He had been just as surprised at her response as Lily herself was.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't _hate _them, per say. They're just…"

"Just not conforming to school rules?" James filled in with a laugh.

"Exactly."

"Yeah, well…" James ruffled his hair absentmindedly. "I'm not sure what to say to that," he admitted.

Lily laughed. "You could say something among the lines of it being what you do; it's in your blood…"

"Well, I don't _like _getting in trouble, but it's just _fun _to fool around sometimes, you know?"

She bit her lip. "To be honest, I've never actually gotten into trouble."

"Not one detention?"

A slight shake of the head made James chuckle. "I'll make sure to keep my notorious reputation away from your clean one."

"No, no," Lily laughed. "It's fine. I…I don't mind."

This one stammered sentence made James beam. Sirius rolled his eyes, having overheard their entire conversation, while Remus chuckled lowly. To him, it was obvious that the two were head-over-heels for each other, but neither wanted to admit it at this time when things were just starting to clear up the bad waters of the past five years.

With a smirk, Remus prodded Sirius in the side.

"Ow, what?" came the food-garbled response.

"Five Galleons that they start dating…7th year."

"What?" Sirius swallowed his food in one gulp. "At this rate, I'm going with 6th year. You're on, mate."

**A/N:**

_So…start dating 6__th__ year or 7__th__? I'm not sure which way I'm going – even though according to JK Rowling, they started dating 7__th__ year – because I don't want the next bundle of chapters to be fillers. _

_Please leave a review! I love to hear what you guys are thinking. _


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